The Great Gatsby

1. The Great Gatsby The Roaring ’20’s

2. Themes • The Decline of the American Dream in the 1920s • the disintegration of the American dream began in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess • the people were cynical, greedy and pursued pleasure • resulted ultimately in the corruption of the American dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals • The passing of the 18th amendment (ban on alcohol) made the underworld thrive • Because Americans just survived WWI (and the stock market rose dramatically because of it), many felt that they could become wealthy only to be proven wrong by the American aristocracy

3. Themes (cont.) • The Hollowness of the Upper Class • One of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country's richest families. • West Egg • Newly rich (vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste) • connected to more traditional social values and ideals • East Egg • Aristocracy (careless, inconsiderate, lacking in heart) • moral decay and social cynicism

4. Themes (cont.) • Honesty • Standards for honesty are based on class and gender. • The richer one is the less honest • Honesty is a requirement for females, not for males • Gender Roles • Men are dominant • Physically, emotionally and intellectually • Women are corrupt and corruptible • Violence • Used to intimidate • Deaths are usually violent • Shows the dangers of modernity and wealth

5. Motif • Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes. • Weather • matches the emotional and narrative tone of the story • Rain = melancholy • Sun = love • Heat wave = conflict • Autumn = death

6. Symbols • Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. • Green • represents Gatsby's hopes and dreams for the future • associated with Daisy • symbolizes the money • Yellow • Corruption and death • White • Purity and innocence

7. Symbols (cont.) • Locations (East Egg ~ West Egg ~ Valley of Ashes) • East Egg • Old money • Aristocratic • West Egg • New money • Neophytes • Valley of Ashes • Modern society and destruction • Midway between the Eggs and NYC

8. Views of Human Behavior • Aristotelian • Based on the assumption that people should act in ways that will bring them happiness. • An ethical life was characterized by the habit of right action (virtue), actions based on reflection, moderation, prudence, wisdom, and justice. • Meaningful relationships with family and friends make an important and necessary contribution to the ethical life. • Leisure is important to Aristotle because one must rest in order to repair the effects of stress.

9. Views of Human Behavior (cont.) • Platonic • A person should be reasonable and should base life on interpreted facts. • There is a form of cohabitation – the intellectual soul and the appetitive beast; the intellect must always win. • A proper balance of logic and morality is needed to maintain health. • Immoral behavior is contrary to nature; no passion is allowed; no spontaneity